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2017-07-15 13:26:45
Authors note: To my knowledge this is the first translation into English of Li Shangyin’s great poem. When he wrote it, he had not yet passed the imperial examination. In it he laments the banishment of his friend and mentor Xiao Huan to Suizhou in distant Sichuan province. Enjoy! 遥作时多难,yáo zuò shí duō nán, 先令祸有源。xiān lìng huò yǒu yuán。 初惊逐客议,chū jīng zhú kè yì, 旋骇党人冤。xuán hài dǎng rén yuān。 密侍荣方入,mì shì róng fāng rù, 司刑望愈尊。sī xíng wàng yù zūn。 皆因优诏用,jiē yīn yōu;yòu zhào yòng, 实有谏书存。shí yǒu jiàn shū cún。 苦雾三辰没,kǔ wù sān chén méi;mò, 穷阴四塞昏。qióng yīn sì sè;sài;sāi hūn。 虎威狐更假,hǔ wēi hú gèng;gēng jiǎ;jià, 隼击鸟逾喧。sǔn jī niǎo yú xuān。 徒欲心存阙,tú yù xīn cún quē;què, 终遭耳属垣。zhōng zāo ěr shǔ yuán。 遗音和蜀魄,yí yīn hé shǔ pò, 易箦对巴猿。yì kuì duì bā yuán。 有女悲初寡,yǒu nǚ bēi chū guǎ, 无男泣过门。wú nán qì guò mén。 朝争屈原草,cháo;zhāo zhēng qū yuán cǎo, 庙馁莫敖魂。miào něi mò ào;áo hún。 迥阁伤神峻,jiǒng […]
2017-06-12 21:25:56
Shangyin was deep in thought, his ice cold Frappuccino was melting drops of water over his fingers. The mall plaza outside the Starbucks in Shenzhen was light and airy. Gray marble tiles gleamed for hundreds of yards under the noonday sun. In the near distance, I could see a street sweeper and a mall worker in a suit and badge. The red robe of a Buddhist monk passed by a shiny row of BMWs like a butterfly hovering over silver flowers. Sitting down under the green awning, I looked at the poet. His head was lowered. “Did you read the newspaper reports,” I said quickly without thinking. “About the woman who was run over twice and left for dead.” “Oh, that one…” he looked up at me and nodded gently, his wisps of white hair stiff in the light breeze. “You know, the taxi first hit her and went on. […]
2017-05-14 21:12:24
A farmer noticed mist forming over a hill in the distance. Curious, he walked towards it, being careful to avoid the poison ivy and the sharp brambles by the grassy path. A long, sinuous vine had curved out of the ground and wrapped itself around a trunk of a huge tree. Yet this tree had no branches. In fact, it looked upside down. He shook his head and reasoned that he had drunk too much Mei Jiu the night before. The leaves were everywhere over the grounds, shaped like his hands, clawing into the ground. The roots extended upwards into the mist until they could no longer be seen. According to the Bhagavad Gita, life is like such a tree. Hungry leaves spread like desire over the earth. The branches are the senses, such as touch, sight, smell and hearing. At the end of the branches are hands, eyes, noses […]
2017-05-01 19:59:30
Willow was of a merchant family of Luo Yang City. Her father was rich and successful in business but drowned in a storm’s tossing waves. Her mother did not care so much for her sons but doted on Willow. At 17, she started to apply makeup and wear her hair in a bun, without much success. Abandoning makeup and mirrors, she blew leaves and chewed flowers, tuned the zither and played the bamboo flute. She would play ‘Sea Wind and Waves’, and evoke heartbreak and mystery in her music. Living close by, I heard from neighbours and friends of her family she had been this way for ten years, they suspected she was a drunkard and dreamer and no one would be betrothed to her. I listened to my older cousin Kun Rangshan, who lived next to Willow. One cloudy spring day he dismounted from his horse at the southern […]
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